Play Dough's Cave?
by Kyra5972
Summary: Sam helps Dean understand some philosophy.


**Title:** Play Dough's Cave?

**Author:** Kyra

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them; if I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

**Summary:** Sam helps Dean understand some philosophy.

**Pairings:** None

**Spoilers:** None. Set pre-series.

**Warnings:** None that I can think of…

**A/N:** Okay, yeah, so I actually wrote this for my philosophy class… We had to read Plato's _Republic_ (book 7) and write a response to it. The teacher said we could write a story if we wanted, so this is what I ended up writing. Figured I might as well post it.

**A/N2:** Also, I decided to go ahead and set up a twitter account, which you can find at twitter(dot)com/Kyra5972 . Follow me? Please? Aside from making me all popular-like, it will also mean that you'll be more informed on what I'm working on and why I've suddenly disappeared yet again, lol. Bonus points to anyone who can figure out the significance of the numbers in my username. :-)

**A/N3:** Finally, thanks to those who nominated me for Crossing Over Awards over on Twisting the Hellmouth! I was nominated for three awards this year and I'm super excited about it. The Interference Series was nominated for Best Crossover Series, Tears was nominated for Best Television Crossover, and So Much For 'Normal'… was nominated for Best Twilight Crossover. Thanks again to those who nominated me!

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Dean sighed in frustration as he tossed his book on the kitchen table, letting his head thunk down beside it. "I don't get this stuff," he said, voice muffled by the wood of the table.

Sam looked up from across the table where he was working diligently on his own homework. "Don't get what?" he asked, marking his place in the book he was reading for English as he turned his attention to his older brother.

Dean shrugged as he sat back up in his seat and motioned to the book in front of him. "My philosophy crap," he replied. "Why am I even taking philosophy, anyway?"

"Because starting mid-semester means we get the left-over electives that no one else wanted to take," Sam stated. "So what don't you understand?"

Dean snorted. "All of it."

Sam rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Dean, a little more specific, please. Maybe I can help," he said.

"It's a senior philosophy class, Sammy, you're still in the eighth grade," Dean pointed out.

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes once more. "And as you love to point out, I'm a nerd," Sam retorted. "So, come on, what are you covering? It's not like I can make you do any worse than you would on your own."

Dean glared lightly at his brother before relenting with a sigh. "Fine," he said, "but I really have no idea what this is about. I think the teacher said something about Play Dough's cave or something like that. What the hell does play dough have to do with a cave? And what do either of them have to do with philosophy?"

Sam stared at Dean for a moment, blinking slowly and resisting the urge to smack the palm of his hand against his forehead. "It's Plato, Dean," Sam corrected, "P-L-A-T-O. He was a Greek philosopher."

"Oh. That makes a lot more sense," Dean said, tilting his head slightly. "But it doesn't help with this whole cave thing. I mean, all I really get is that there's a cave, and people in the cave, and taking someone out of the cave, and… It's just confusing. It doesn't help that this stuff might as well still be written in Greek. Seriously, who the hell talks like this?"

"Nobody anymore," Sam said. "But these things tend to be translated with the assumption that people with IQs that are at least in the double digits will be reading them, so they don't exactly make 'For Dummies' versions."

"Are you going to help me or insult me?" Dean asked with a glare.

Sam shrugged. "I can do both," he replied. "Unlike you, I have enough brain cells to multitask."

When Dean simply continued glaring, Sam rolled his eyes before talking a deep breath and trying to find a way to explain Plato's cave to Dean in a way his older brother would understand it. After a moment, he nodded to himself as he settled on how he was going to do this.

"Okay, so with Plato's cave, you obviously have the cave, right?" Sam started, getting a nod from Dean in return. "And in the cave, there's a row of people, but they're all chained so that they can't leave or get up or look around, they're just stuck staring at the back wall of this cave. Behind them is a fire that provides the only light in the cave. Between the people and the fire is a walkway where people move about. The fire casts shadows of the people on the walkway against the back wall and that's all the chained people see, that's how they experience the world; that world of shadows is their reality. You with me so far?"

Dean nodded slowly as he thought over the things Sam had explained so far. "I think so."

Sam nodded and continued with his explanation. "Okay, so the shadows are all that these people know, so imagine that someone frees one of them, takes off the chains and takes them out of the cave into the rest of the world. It would be a big shock, right? To suddenly be thrust into this whole new reality. But after a little while they get used to it. Then if you try to take them back to the cave, he'll still know about the outside world and won't be satisfied with the shadows anymore. He'll probably try to tell the others of what he knows, but with them knowing nothing but the shadows, they won't want to hear it. Ignorance is bliss, and all that.

"Think of it this way," Sam said, knowing this would help Dean understand a little better. "We know about what's really out there, right? Demons, ghosts, monsters; we know about all that, but not everyone does. So there's us, right? And then everyone else is the people chained in the cave; all they know is the shadows, the sort-of half-reality of what we know. They have "normal," no demons, no magic, no monsters or ghosts. They're like we were before Mom was killed." Sam paused for a minute as he thought over his example before shaking his head slightly. "Wait, this'll be a better example, I think. Take Dad. Him and Mom were part of the group in the cave, they lived a "normal" life, watching the shadows on the wall, not seeing everything, not seeing the monsters or demons or ghosts. And then Mom was killed by the demon and that was like Dad having the chains removed and being taken out of the cave. You following me so far?"

"Yeah, I follow. Though, I gotta say I don't really like the example you're giving," he said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his seat.

"You think I like it any better?" Sam asked rhetorically and rolling his eyes. "It's the best example I could think of though, so unless you want to fail…"

"Fine. Whatever," Dean muttered, slouching down in his seat and looking like a petulant four year old.

"Okay, so Dad's out of the cave, seeing everything clearly. He finds out about demon and monsters and ghosts. Now imagine if he tried to go back into the cave, back to living a normal life. But he still knows about what's really out there. He wouldn't be able to go back to a life of simply staring at the shadows on the wall, but if he tried to tell the others in the cave – the other normal people – they wouldn't listen. They'd be pissed at him for trying to change the way they see reality because they don't want to know what's out there, they'd rather live just staring at the shadows on the wall, ignoring what's out there. The shadows on the wall, that normal life, is all they know, all they want to know, and they won't react well to Dad trying to change that. But Dad knows about everything and "normal" just won't cut it anymore, he wouldn't be satisfied staring at the shadows on the wall. Hell, it's why we do what we do, why we've grown up the way we have. Dad found out about the world outside the cave and brought us along. Can you honestly tell me you'd be okay with pretending that none of this existed? That there weren't people out there getting hurt that needed our help? I may want normal, Dean, but I don't think I could ever actually ignore the world outside the cave."

Dean blinked at his little brother for a moment as he went over everything Sam had just told him. "Okay, yeah," he said, "I still don't like your example, but it makes sense. Thanks, Sammy."

Sam just nodded and reopened his English book as Dean gathered up his books and headed out of the kitchen. He looked up curiously at the sound of Dean's voice.

"Oh, and, Sammy?" Dean asked as he paused in the kitchen doorway, waiting until Sam looked up at him before continuing with a smirk. "You really are a nerd."

Sam just rolled his eyes at his older brother before turning back to his book yet again. "Whatever, Jerk," he replied. "Just remember that me being a nerd is the reason you pass most of your classes."

Dean's fond laughter was the only reply Sam got as the older boy finally left the room.

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So, yeah, not exactly what I normally write, but I think it turned out okay since it was actually something I wrote for class… Again, thanks to those who nominated me for Crossing Over Awards, you guys are awesome! And don't forget to follow me on twitter. Bonus point to anyone who can figure out the significance of the numbers in my username. :-)

**~ Kyra**


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